


#teamUSA

by myblueworld



Series: The Boyfriends and Football [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Will is team USA, and Nico is just amused, mention of Christian Pulisic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-25
Updated: 2017-11-25
Packaged: 2019-02-06 21:06:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12826098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myblueworld/pseuds/myblueworld
Summary: Will was #teamUSAORThe one where Will found the joy of watching a soccer game.And Nico was just really really amused.





	#teamUSA

When Nico opened the door and Will saw that he was wearing the black and red Milan shirt that Will gave to him two days ago, a wide grin spread instantly across Will’s face.

“You look good in red, Neeks,” Will said, and leaned to place a quick kiss on Nico’s cheek.

Nico’s face turned into almost as red as the stripes on his shirt.

“Shut up, Will,” he said and closed the door after Will stepped in. Will looked at him, can’t stop grinning as he took another look over at Nico.

“No, seriously. You look really good, Neeks.”

Nico looked up at Will but quickly held his gaze down. He tugged the hem of the shirt and peeked at Will.

“Really? You… don’t think it’s too bright?”

Will chuckled. He took a step to close the distance between them, and wrapped an arm around Nico’s shoulder.

“Nah…,” he said, and kissed Nico’s temple. “Besides, what’s wrong with bright colors?”

“I don’t do bright colors, Solace. It’s your territory,” Nico said, as he angled his neck to meet Will’s eyes. It looked like that Nico was trying to glare, but the twitch of his lips betrayed him.

Will laughed as Nico pulled himself away from Will. He walked to where he had his laptop opened, already connected to a flat screen TV mounted on the wall.

One of the perks of being the son of Hades, gods of wealth. Not just you have your cabin all for yourself (except every once in a while when Hazel was visiting), you also had fancy stuffs.

“Hey, did you choose Milan as your favorite team because they are also called The Devil?” Will asked as he sat on Nico’s bed.

From where he was sitting cross-legged on the floor as he was fiddling with the laptop, Nico turned his head to Will. There was a surprised expression on his face, along with a small amused smile.

“I see that you did some research, huh?”

Will fiddled with the corner of a pillow that he was hugging now. “Uhm. Yeah. Kind of,” he said. “So, is it why? Because… Well.. You know, they are called The Devil and so it suits your image as The Death Boy?”

Nico rolled his eyes but there was still a hint of a smile on his lips. He turned back to face his laptop, typing something into the address bar of the browser.

“Nahhh… Not really,” he said. “That’s not how it works, Will.”

Will raised his brows. “What do you mean?”

“Well…” Nico turned around, now facing Will. “First of all… You don’t just… pick a team to be your favorite. You don’t choose your favorite team, Will.”

Will’s brows were now furrowing. “Huh?”

Nico started to move his hand into a very Italian gesture. “You don’t choose your favorite team. Your team chooses you!”

Will still did not really understand what Nico meant, but a knocking sound came from the door.

“Oh! That must be Chiara!” Nico said as he stood up from the floor. He quickly ran to the door and opened it. As expected, Chiara was standing in front of the door, Damien next to him.

“Hey! You have a Milan shirt!” Chiara exclaimed.

Nico grinned as he stepped aside to let the couple walked in. “Yeah,” he said as he closed the door. “I got it from Will,” he added, as he followed Chiara and Damien.

Damien arched an eyebrow at Will who grinned at him. He threw a pack of chips at Will. Will caught it and ripped it open. While Damien sat next to Will on the bed, Chiara slid down to sit next to Nico on the floor. Chiara wore a blue shirt with a small logo in Italian flag colors on it.

Chiara and Nico started talking in Italian, hands moving around dramatically along the words that sound foreign, yet alluring in Will’s ears.

“They’re not gonna fight about the game, are they?” Will asked, gesturing with his chin to the Italians.

“Nope,” Damien shook his head. “It’s Italy that’s playing now. So obviously, both of them are cheering for the same team.”

“Oh, good,” Will nodded his head. “Do you think Italy will win?”

Damien took a handful of chips from the bag that Will was holding. “They supposed to. It’s Macedonia that they’re playing.  I can’t even name any Macedonian players while Italy has like… a bunch of good players.”

“Like Buffon?”

Damien turned his head to Will, looking amused. “Wow! You really are trying to learn more about soccer, huh?”

Will could feel his cheeks warmed a bit. “Well, it’s…It looks like something that means a lot for Nico,” he said, fixing his eyes on the TV screen. The players were now coming out, making their way from the tunnel to the pitch.

“Hey,” Damien bumped his shoulder lightly. “That’s cool. And soccer is actually great. I now enjoy it more than I thought I would.”

Will chuckled lightly.

In front of them, Chiara and Nico were standing now, singing Italian national anthem loudly with pride lacing their voices. Once the anthem finished, Nico and Chiara sat back to the floor and clapped their hands. Chiara shouting something at the TV.

“Oh, I really hope Italy will win,” Will said. He remembered how upset Nico was when Milan lost the game against Roma.

“Me too, Will, me too,” Damien said. “Chiara would be so upset if Italy lost this game.”

“But they will win, right?”

Damien shrugged his shoulders. “Theoretically? Yes. But the thing is, anything is possible to happen in football. Including the things that are theoretically impossible.”

 

*******

Apparently, today was one of the days where the theoretically impossible things became possible.

A few minutes before the first half, an Italian player scored a goal.  Chiara jumped up and down as she was screaming in joy while Nico punched the air, shouting something out.

But then in the middle of the second half, one of the Macedonian players scored.

The score stayed 1-1 until the end of the game. When the whistle was blown, Nico groaned as he buried his face in his hands. Chiara screamed something in Italian that definitely did not sound like a flattering compliment. Ten minutes later, she burst out of Hades cabin, still muttering things under her breath. Damien followed her in a safe distance with a mix of worry and exasperation on his face.

Will closed the door, and when he turned around, he chuckled out lightly when he saw Nico. Nico was laying on his stomach, with his face buried in his pillow.

Will walked to the bed, and sat next to Nico with his legs stretched out.

“Hey,” he said, raking his fingers through Nico’s soft hair. “You alright there, babe?”

Nico groaned and mumbled something that Will could not catch. But then Nico moved, only to have his head rest on Will’s lap.

“I hate football,” he said, pouting as he stared at the wall.

Will smiled and kept on running his hands through Nico’s hair. “Hey, at least they didn’t lose the game, right?”

Nico let out a heavy sigh. “Yeah, but Spain won their game and it only meant that we practically lost a spot for automatic qualification. I just hope we can make it through the play-off to qualify.”

“To qualify for what?”

“To play in The World Cup.”

Will tilted his head to the left. “I thought all the countries can play in the World Cup,” he said.

Nico snorted. He flipped so now his face was facing Will.

“Will, do you have any idea how many countries in this world that have a football team and want to play in the World Cup?”

“Uh… A lot?”

Nico nodded. “Exactly. And it will take _forever_ to arrange a competition where all the countries play. That’s why, out of more than 200 countries, the next world cup will only have 32 countries participating. So throughout the last two years, there have been qualifying games to determine which country is good enough to play in the World Cup.”

“So this World Cup, it’s a big deal in soccer, huh?”

“It is.”

“Something like The Super Bowl, then?”

“Uh… Kind of…” Nico moved his hands in circles. “But like… 100 times bigger.”

Will flicked the tip of Nico’s nose. “Nico, you have no idea how The Super Bowl is such a big deal here in the US.”

Nico snorted. “And you, Will, you have no idea how The World Cup is such a big deal in the whole wide world.”

Will laughed and ruffled Nico’s hair as Nico snuggled against his shirt. For a while, none of them say anything.

“Hey, Neeks?”

“Hm?”

“So all the countries still have to play for the qualifying games?”

“Yeah, except for Russia, because Russia would be the country who hosts it. So it’s more like… the privilege of being a host,” Nico said, absently fiddled with the hem of Will’s shirt.

“What about the US then?”

Nico angled his neck to meet Will’s eyes. “Yeah. They’re also playing in the qualifying.”

“How are they doing?”

Nico stared back at Will, amusement twinkled in his eyes. “I thought you prefer your Super Bowl than the World Cup?”

Will flicked Nico’s ear. “No! I mean… It’s my country, right? My team! Like you and your Italy team!”

Nico chuckled. “I think… They’re doing…okay? They might, or might not, play in the next World Cup.”

“Might _not_? What do you mean?” Will asked. “But… They played in the last World Cup, right?”

Nico lifted his head up from Will’s lap, and sat up on the bed. “Well, yeah. But they still need to qualify if they want to play in the next world cup.”

“Are they good? Tell me! Who’s their best player? So..do.. Do they also have to play against Italy too? What country do we have to play? How many games that we still have to play? When is our next game?”

Nico laughed. He shook his head in amusement. “They’re not bad. And Pulisic is a really talented one.”

Will inhaled sharply. “Nico, does my team have to play against yours?” The idea that his team would have to play against the team of his boyfriend suddenly became something that freaked him out.

Nico laughed again, then shook his head. “Fortunately, no, Will,” Nico said, brushing away his hair from his eyes. “As the US and Italy are in different continents, they play in different groups.”

“Oh, thank the gods,” Will said, exhaling in relief. He didn’t want his team winning a game would be something that made Nico sad.

“You know what, I am pretty sure that the US will have a game tonight.” Nico hopped down from the bed and walked to where his laptop was. “Hang on, let me pull out the schedule and check it out.”

He brought the laptop with him as he climbed back to the bed. Will watched from behind, resting his chin on Nico’s shoulder as Nico typed something in the browser.

A few second later, Nico hummed in contentment.

“Yep,” he said as one of his hand flew to hold Will’s cheek. “The US is playing tonight. At 7:35. Against Panama.”

“Oh! Oh! Oh! Can we watch the game, babe? Here? I want to watch it!”

Nico laughed again. Will’s sudden excitement was really contagious, erasing his disappointment of the earlier game. “Sure,” he said. “We can watch together here after dinner.”

“YEAY!” Will wrapped his arms around Nico’s shoulder and kissed his cheeks. “TEAM USA!” He cheered as he hopped down from the bed.

He opened the door. Before he stepped out, he looked at Nico over his shoulder.

“I’ll see you at dinner, Neeks!” Will said, grinning widely.

 

*******

After dinner, Will told Nico that he needed to get some stuff from his cabin first. So while Will went to Cabin 7, Nico went back to his own cabin. He’s done setting up the laptop and the TV set when he heard a knock on his door.

“Coming!” Nico said, and shuffled to the door.

When he opened his door, Will was standing with two small American flags in both hands. He even had a USA bandana around his head. Nico chuckled as he stepped back.

“You’re really serious about supporting your team, huh?” Nico asked half-teasingly.

“My boyfriend teaches me about how serious you should be when it comes to supporting your team,” Will said. “Here, I bring one for you,” he said, giving Nico one of the flags that he brought with him.  Nico rolled his eyes but took it.

Will walked to the bed, Nico following just a step behind him. Will sat on the bed, crossing his legged Indian-style. His eyes on the screen, he waved the flag in his hand as the screen was showing the US supporters.

“Come on, USA!” Will cheered.

Nico could not help but smiled fondly as he sat next to his boyfriend.

“Hey, Neeks?” Will turned to look at Nico. “Do you think they will win the game?”

Nico scratched his chin. “I’d say they had a great chance to win,” Nico said. “Pulisic and Altidore are starting, so I guess yeah, the US has a good chance to win.”

Will smiled at them brightly before looking back to the TV.

Nico leaned his back against the headboard, chuckling as Will cheered when the players coming out from the tunnel.

Besides Italy, Nico was not really a supporter of other National Team. But seeing how excited Will was, Nico really hoped that the US would win the game.

 

*******

It turned out that Will, out of Nico’s expectation, could also be so loud in cheering for his team. It looked like Will was vibrating with energy, it was fascinating. Nico absently wondered whether he himself also looked like that. And whether Will was also as amused as himself right now to see Nico watching his team played.

*******

 

“Which one is that Pulisic that you told me earlier, Neeks?”

“That one? He’s cute!”

“Oh oh oh! Here it comes!”

“Gods they’re really quick!”

“Nico look oh gosh look at them running.”

“WHOA IT’S A GOAL? GOAL GOAL GOAL!”

“THAT PULISIC KID SCORED NICO YOU ARE RIGHT HE IS THE BEST!!!”

“Gosh another goal!!!”

“USA! USA! USA!”

“WHOA Why he killed him oh gosh he did nothing wrong why did you do that to him???”

“Nico! Is that a penalty??? We’re getting the penalty???”

“Nico I can’t watch this I can’t I can’t!”

 

*******

Nico laughed as Will hid his face behind Nico’s back, his hands clutching Nico’s shoulder.

“This is too nerve-wracking!” Will said, and groaned. He peeked from behind Nico’s shoulder.

Nico shook his head lightly, and ruffled Will’s hair.

“Don’t worry. Altidore can do it. He’s good,” Nico said.

Will groaned again as Jozy Altidore walked to the spot with the ball on his hands. When the striker placed the ball on the grass, Will buried his face against the back of Nico’s shoulder.

“Niiicooo…” he whined as he gripped the side of Nico’s arms. “I’m so nervous,” he said, peeking out at the screen again from Nico’s shoulder.

Nico kept his eyes on the screen, but his lips curled up into a smile as he could hear Will taking a sharp breath.

A second later, Will shout out in joy as the ball hit the back of the net.

“GOAL!” Will cheered and practically tackling Nico by giving him a sudden bone-crushing hug. Losing his balance, not just from Will’s hug but also from his laughter, Nico fell to the bed.

“Oh, I am so so happy!” Will said, half-screeching. He pulled away from Nico, back to his position to sit cross-legged on the bed. Will clapped his hands.

“Come on, USA!” he cheered.

Nico sat back on the bed, smiling to see the grin on Will’s face. He leaned to place a quick kiss on Will’s cheek. “Your team is doing pretty good tonight, huh?” He said.

Will turned to flash a wide smile at Nico.

“Yeah,” he said. “And it makes me so so happy!” Will turned his head back to the TV, waving the flag in his hand as he cheered again.

Nico felt something warm fluttering inside of him. Will looked so happy right now, and it made Nico happy too. Really happy.

 

*******

USA scored another goal at the second half, and the game ended with a 4-0 score for USA.

“I am so so happy,” Will sighed as he rested his head on Nico’s shoulder.

Nico hummed. He turned his head so he could kiss Will’s cheek. “Congratulation, _amore_ ,” he said. “That was a great game.”

Will shifted his position, now laying on the bed with his head on Nico’s lap.

“So are we qualified now or we still have to play more games?”

“I am pretty sure that the US will have one last game. If I am not mistaken, the game will be on… Tuesday? I’ll check it again,” Nico said, raking his fingers through Will’s blond curls.

“Do you think I should get a shirt? With Pulisic’s name on the back?”

Nico snorted but kept on playing with Will’s hair.

“Oh, so you’re a fan of Pulisic now?”

Will giggled. “He’s cute! And well, as you said, he’s really good!”

Nico rolled his eyes.

Will grinned and poked Nico’s chest with his finger. “Don’t worry, Neeks. No need to be jealous. For me you’re still the cutest one.”

“So, are you going to watch the game again? We can watch it together here.”

Will’s grin was so wide, it almost tore his face into two.

“Of course I am. Team USA for the win!”

Nico chuckled. As he leaned down to kiss Will’s forehead, he really hoped that the US would win their next game. So he could see Will smiling happily like this again.

*******

 

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Comments and feedbacks are always welcomed :D  
> 2\. The USA game that Nico and Will were watching was USA vs Panama, where USA won by 4-0, Christian Pulisic scored the opening goal at the 7th minute, Jozy Altidore scored at 18' and at 40' (from a penalty kick), and the last goal was scored by Bobby Wood at 63'.  
> 3\. I don't know how many of you are following the World Cup Qualification games. But if you don't, let's just say that the final result of the qualifiers were...not as what Nico and Will would have wanted it to be. So probably the next installment of this series will be about Nico comforting Will. Or the other way around.


End file.
